Haying with compact tractor

[gdk22984]

Hi all,

I own a small farm with 2 (maybe 3 in the future) quarter horses. I have been toying with the idea of building up my small field (4 acres or so) and doing my own haying. Right now I buy 400 per year (as of now), however the haying business in my area is a dying breed. I keep finding I have to travel farther and farther for good quality hay and the price is climbing because of the demand. We use the standard square bale, so here are my questions.

-My tractor is a JD 4400 35 hp hydro. I understand that this may be to small for a conventional baler. I have researched some mini square balers, they would seem to work well but hard to find used. New they are around 17K not shipped. I understand New Holland makes or made a smaller unit for smaller HP tractors. Thoughts on this?

- I have first dibs on a JD MX5 rotary mower for cheap. How would this unit perform for hay cutting?

Appreciate all the help!

 

[kebo]

Hi all,

I own a small farm with 2 (maybe 3 in the future) quarter horses. I have been toying with the idea of building up my small field (4 acres or so) and doing my own haying. Right now I buy 400 per year (as of now), however the haying business in my area is a dying breed. I keep finding I have to travel farther and farther for good quality hay and the price is climbing because of the demand. We use the standard square bale, so here are my questions.

-My tractor is a JD 4400 35 hp hydro. I understand that this may be to small for a conventional baler. I have researched some mini square balers, they would seem to work well but hard to find used. New they are around 17K not shipped. I understand New Holland makes or made a smaller unit for smaller HP tractors. Thoughts on this?

- I have first dibs on a JD MX5 rotary mower for cheap. How would this unit perform for hay cutting?

Appreciate all the help!

I can't comment on the mini balers, other than I have seen a couple threads on this site (maybe in one of the other forums) about haying with compact tractors. Maybe you can do some searching for them, if you have the time.

As for the MX5, I have read others say that a bush hog can actually be used to cut a field for haying. It doesn't work quite as well as a sickle or disc mower, but if you rake it in nice, tight rows, the baler will still do ok with it. Even if you don't buy the MX5 for that, if the price is low enough, you can buy it and resell it and make a few dollars, or maybe trade it for another attachment you want/need. Good luck.

 

[boomer1025]

Hi all,

I own a small farm with 2 (maybe 3 in the future) quarter horses. I have been toying with the idea of building up my small field (4 acres or so) and doing my own haying. Right now I buy 400 per year (as of now), however the haying business in my area is a dying breed. I keep finding I have to travel farther and farther for good quality hay and the price is climbing because of the demand. We use the standard square bale, so here are my questions.

-My tractor is a JD 4400 35 hp hydro. I understand that this may be to small for a conventional baler. I have researched some mini square balers, they would seem to work well but hard to find used. New they are around 17K not shipped. I understand New Holland makes or made a smaller unit for smaller HP tractors. Thoughts on this?

- I have first dibs on a JD MX5 rotary mower for cheap. How would this unit perform for hay cutting?

Appreciate all the help!

.
Here you go = Tractor Tools Direct | Product Categories | Hay Baling Package Deals
.

 

[RickB]

No reason you can't use an older 14x18 baler and drop them on the ground. None whatsoever. Wasting $17K on a 'mini baler' is insane. Find an older Deere or NH baler for 85-90% less than that figure. Baling 400 50lb bales an hour with 20 hp? Now that's a pretty bold claim.

 

[gdk22984]

Thanks for the replies. There is a JD 336 used near me, maybe ill go check it out.

 

[farm boy00]

I think it would be crazy to go spend that money. Heck you could go buy another tad older but good tractor and a good bailer for that price and still have extra

 

[roadhunter]

I bought a little square baler earlier this year for $100. In this part of the world the only people who use little square bales are the horse yuppies and hobby farmers. All the real ranchers have switched to round bales so those old square balers are considered scrap for the most part.

I'd recommend watching CL and looking for farm auctions and find something for way less than the option above. Those little balers dont' need much power to run so your tractor should be fine.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

They don't need much power to run, but they do pound the heck out of a small tractor...

I've seen two compacts that had the pto knocked out of them, baling small squares... I know I wouldn't do it with mine.

SR

 

[gdk22984]

Yeah, not planning on spending that kind of money for a new mini baler for as little as I need. But then at the same time I sure as **** don't want to maintain another tractor just for that. The JD does everything I need it to do for me and it has plenty of balls for all the attachments I use. But I don't use haying equipment either, so that's why I asked. If a CL used square baler would be sufficient for this size tractor for as many bales I need just dropped, I'd def invest in one. I'd pay for itself the first season or there abouts...

 

[zzvyb6]

I've been running a NH-479 9' mower, a NH-55 rake, a Kuhn GRS-25 tedder/rake, a JD 14T baler and a NH-1012 stack wagon for quite a few years with my JD 1070 35 hp tractor. I've posted videos on YouTube of my experiences.

I disagree that an old baler pounds a small tractor. I originally used a Yanmar 22 hp machine with my mower and baler. Didn't have live power either: start all the machinery moving with one clutch. If the baler is timed correctly, the driveline is tight, the cutoff knives are sharp, the 540 pto rpm is set and the hay is dry, you can hardly tell the baler is working. And my video shows it.

Its a lot of fun if you are tenacious about keeping the machinery in a good working order.

Hay Baling 214 - YouTube

2813 2411 - YouTube

 

[Creamer]

For 400 bales a year and set up right the tractor will handle the baler. I am not sure I wold do 10,000 bales a year or anything like that with that set-up.

 

[zzvyb6]

Here's a friend of mine baling with his Kubota L2250 (engine 26 hp, 21 hp at the pto) using a NH small square baler. Around here you can get all this equipment for under a few thousand dollars (mower, rake, baler). Put a snowmobile trilaer behind the baler and let Mom do the sweating.

No big deal. Jarnot Farms - YouTube

 

[farmer2009]

We baled many bales with a IH 424 with a 7'-NH 451 sickle bar, a NH 256 rake, and a JD 24T baker. That setup run over 1,000 squares a year for about 10 years before we switched to rounds and started to grow. Never had a problem with the baler stressing that tractor and it's about the same size as your tractor. If we hit a wad of hay it would kick in the governor. Tractor was a gas burner. Have also run the baler on a L3400 Kubota. It ran it better than the old IH.

 

[powerscol]

You're in luck - Been doing this for several years now with a Bobcat CT 235 26.5 PTO HP. Yes it can be done well if you go slow and be careful. Read through this thread http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/haying/300231-haying-compact-tractor.html?highlight=hay Post 49 is the results of my effort.

Balers - look at the used inlines. I have a Hesston 4550 they also were made under other brands Case/IH, New Idea, Adco, and currently MF the equivalent to what I have is the 1835. They will impact you tractor much less than a side pick up model as your considering. If you control your windrow size it easy baling, and if things bog down, just slow down.

Cutting - I have both a drum mower and a sickle mower. Both work great. With the drum mower you will need a tedder. My rake is an old Ford 503 side 3pt delivery model (roller bar type). If you buy used, be sure to get it demoed. I learned the hard way on this.

Spend you money on a good used baler as repair can be a big pain. Folks normally run a baler until it is worn out then by new. I got lucky as the guy moved up to a new model and the dealer cut a deal for me - they had done all the service on my unit too. So far 2000 bales and not a hiccup yet.

 

[Farmer2750]

Think about all the baling done with old John deere A's B's 60's and 70's. You can do it. Take your time. I bale with a 125 hp tractor or a 75 hp tractor. I have a John Deere 346 baler and a New Holland 850 round baler. Definitely watch equipment run before you buy! If it's a baler then watch it bale. Walk away if it misses 5+ bales every 50 bales. Sign of worn parts, out of time, ect... Too many headaches unless you love working on equipment and you can get it super cheap. And by super cheap I mean under $200. As for a rake, a decent bar rake will do for you. Paint on them doesn't mean anything if it has good tires, all the teeth, and a strong gear case. A mower is gonna be a hard one, as much as I would say to stay away from a sickle bar, I think it is gonna be the only option for your size of tractor. Get a newer one and make sure it has been upkept. Sharp sickles and guards, good unweathered belts, and watch it run. Make sure they didn't do something stupid like weld a pipe in for the pitman arm instead of the wood one. All in all I see $2500 in equipment for you to start. $500 sickle mower, $1000 in a bar rake, and $1000 in a decent baler. I'm assuming you have some sort of utility trailer to pick up and and transport the bales to the barn. I would not pull a rack behind the baler with that small of a tractor. Not until you get a 40hp+ tractor. After you start baling you will want a bigger tractor even though you can do it with your little tractor. Take your time, slow and steady win the race. And most importantly have fun!

 

[crabjoe]

I don't know anyone that has ever used one but have you looked into the Chinese hay balers? They look cheap enough to buy new.

Chinese square hay baler

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Think about all the baling done with old John deere A's B's 60's and 70's.

Surely you guys don't think these new small compacts are built as tough as the old FARM tractors of similar hp!

There's NO comparison at all! Those old farm tractors had pretty heavy build pto parts in them and were made to do farm work day in and day out.

SR

 

[Creamer]

Surely you guys don't think these new small compacts are built as tough as the old FARM tractors of similar hp!

There's NO comparison at all! Those old farm tractors had pretty heavy build pto parts in them and were made to do farm work day in and day out.

SR

I have to agree. I have read many discussions like this but think of the old farm tractors with their extra weight and larger blocks and frame and gears and know that they are much tougher for taking a pounding like a baler.

 

[vsteel]

It is really going to depend a lot on the baler. I ran a JD 336 with an Oliver 770 for years and years. The Oliver is a ~8K tractor with fluid in the tires and 50hp and that baler would really rock the Oliver and when you got into thicker hay it would really kick in the governor. The 336 would beat the crap out of a smaller tractor even if it had the horsepower. Now if you can get one of the really old balers they are much smaller and you might be OK since you are working with a 4000 series tractor.

 

[aczlan]

We bale with a NH269 (IIRC) behind our L3830 doing 2000ish bales/year and it is worked well.

Aaron Z